Chain fastener



April 4, 1939. ER; ET AL 2,153,003

CHAIN FASTENER Filed Sept. 30, 1936 Patented Apr. 4, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CHAIN FASTENER Application September 30, 1936, Serial N0. 103,270

17 Claims.

Our invention relates to chain fasteners end more partlcularly to fasteners of the type adapted to connect the opposite ends of the side chains of tire chain assemblies.

An object of the invention is to provide improved means for preventing accidental release of the chain fastener.

Our invention relates particularly to fasteners of the type cornprising an elongated booly, a latch lever pivoted at one end on the body and having a hook at lts other end, and a keeper slidable on the body and adapted to hold the hook end of the lever in latching position.

A more specific object of the invention is to so arrange the parts that the keeper Will jam er bind in holcling positlon and thus be preventd from accidentally working elear of the'latch lever.

These and other objects Will appear in the following description of a preferred emboclirnent of our invention and thereafter the novelty and scope of the invention will be pointed out; in the claims.

In the accompanying drawing;

Fig*ure 1 is a view in side elevation of our improved chain fastener in latched position wi th the keeper shown in sectin;

Fig. 2 is an eclge view of the same looking from the right hand side of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view in section taken substantially on the llne 3-3 of Fig 1; ancl Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the fastener unlatched.

The particular embodiment shown in the drawing comprises a body I0 formed of sheet metal or fiat stock bent to the shape of a hairpin loop. At the closed end of the loop the Stock is pressed in a dye to give it a round cross-section and also to form an eye II in which an end link I2 0f a side chain may be hooked. AI: their free ends the legs I3 of the hairpin loop are tied together by means of a rivet I4 and, pivoted on this rivet, between I:he 1egs of the hairpin loop, is a latch lever I5.

The latch lever which is of elbow-shape is adapted to be hooked through a link I6 ab the opposite end cf the side chain ancl then be swung on its pivot back toward the eye II to draw the ends of the side chaln together. The shape of the lever is such as to provide a recess I l between the lever and the body to receive the link I6, this recess being deep enough to perrnit the free end of the latch lever to be passed between the legs I3 while the lever is hookedthrough the link I6. The latch lever is formed ab its free end with a hook I9 which is turned outwardly and is adapted to engagea keeper 20 slidable on the legs I3.

The keeper is preferably stamped out of sheet meta1 and has a rectangular aperture therein. This aperture is wide enough to provide ample clearance between lts side Walls 2I and the outer faces of the legs I3. Each end Wall of the aperture comprises a pair of shoulders 22 separated by a recess 23. Ample clearance is provided between the opposite pairs of shoulders and the edges of the legs I3 as long as the keeper lies in a plane normal to the longitudinal axis o1 the bocly, but if the keeper is tilted out of normal I;he upper corners 24 at the upper end of the keeper will bite into the legs at one edge thereof and the lowercorners 25 a1: the lower end of the link will bite into the legs at the opposite edge thereof. The legs are tapered toward the eye II, as indicated als 26, so as to proviole a greater clearanoe betWeen the shoulders and permit a sharper inclination of the keeper in the viclnlty of the eye II and hence a greater binding effect. I

The recesses 23 provide between them sufiicienb clearance for the hook I9 130 pass through ehe keeper. Thus, in operation, after the latch lever has been hooked through a link I6, the hook I9 is swung in between the legs and the keeper which has been moved against the eye I I to clear the end of the lever, as shown in Fig. 4, is now s1id 30 back over the hook ancl one end of the keeper is engaged in the bight of the hook. If now the fastener is suspendecl in the vertical position shown the opposite end of the keeper will drop by gravity and the diagonal opposecl corners 24 and 25 of the opposed pairs of shoulders 22 will bite into the legs I3 and thereby resist any forces that may be exerted to slide the keeper upwardly on the body of the fastener. Of course, when the fastener is inverted the keeper may swing out of its gripping binding position anal slide by gravity away from the eye, laut in so doing lt; merely slides further along the lever and hence does not unlatoh the lever. II; is when the 1ever is in pendant position that there is the most danger of accidental unlatching and this is prevented in our fastener by designing the parts so that the keeper Will jam in latched position.

It will be observed that With the parts in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the keeper is spaced from the eye portion II which bulges out beyond the legs I3. Hence, the eye portion does notprevent the keeper from assuming the desired inclined clutching position. At the sarne tlme, the eye portion acts as a stop to prevent the keeper from sllpplng ofl the body when lt is unhooked from the lever, as shown in Fig'. 4.

In fasteners 02 th1s general character as heretofore constructed no thought has been given to the automatlc jzmmlng or locking of the keeper. Instead, the fasteners have been so designed that the keeper could not take up an inclined position with opposite shoulders in grlpping engagement wlth the body when the latch lever was in depending posltlon. The reason for this was that the apertured eye of the fastener supported the keeper when in lts lowermost positlon at such a slight angular departure from normal to the longitudinal axis of the body that there was clearance between the shoulders. As a consequence, a slight tap on the hook was sufliclent to pry the keeper up far enough to rlde over the hook and then the keeper wou1d drop clear of the hook. Joggllng o1 the fastener would also cause the keeper to become unlatched in the same way and t1re chains were not lnfrequently accidentally detached in servlce.

Such accidental unlatchlng is prevented in our devlcebecause the wedglng action of the hook on the eye of the keeper merely increases the 1ocking effect and jams the keeper all the tighter agalnst any tendency to slide up the body of the fastener. It will be noted that as the latch lever swings inwardly to the positlon sh'own in broken lines in Fig. 1, the unter face 21 of the blght of the hook makes a substantially parallel contact wlth the face of the keeper so that the latter cannot swing clockwise about the corners 24 as a fulorum to lift the lower end of the keeper and release the grlp. On the contrary the tendency ls for the keeper to swlng counter-clockwise and increase the grip.

We have described our inventlon as applied to a speclflc Iorm of fastener in which the parts are made largely of sheet metal. Obvlously our inventlon is not llmlted to such a constructlon and although a better locklng efiect -can be obtained if sharp corners are provlded on the shoulders 22, nevertheless, lt 1s not absolutely necessary to provide such sharp corners. We have also descrlbed our devlce as applied to tlre chaln assemblies, but obviously lt can also be employed to connect other elements as well. It will be understood, therefore, that the showlng in the drawing ls illustrative and not llmltatlve of our invention and that we reserve the rlght to malte various changes in form, constructlon and arrangement of parts without departing from the splrlt and scope 01 our inventlon as polnted out in the clalms.

We clalm:

1. A device of the character descrlbed eomprls- Ing a body in the form of an elongated loop with the sideelements thereof lntegrally connected at one end by an eye extending laterally in the plane o1 the loop beyond the sides cf the loop, a latch lever plvoted on the body between the slde elements thereof at the other end of the loop, said lever having a hook at the free end thereof, and a keeper havlng an aperture receiving the body with a loose sliding fit, the keeper aparture being of less width than the eye portlon and belng defined by end walls of sllghtly greater spacing than the depth of the side elements, the side elements being of reduced depth adjacent sald eye portion and the eye portion being spaced beyond the hook to such extent that the keeper may assume by gravity an inclined blnding position when the body is in uprlght positlon w1th the lever pivot uppermost and wlth one end 01 the keeper engaged in the blght of the hook.

2. A devlce of the character described comprls- Ing a body in the form 01 an elongated loop. a. latch lever plvted on the body between the slde elernents thereof at one end of the loop, sald lever having a hook at the free end thereof, a keeper having an aperture recelvlng the body with a loose sllding fit, the keeper aperture belng defined by end walls of slightly greater spaclng than the depth of the side elements, and a stop for the keeper projecting from the body at a polnt remote from the plvoted end of said lever said slde elements belng of reduced depth adjacent salcl stop and said stop belng spaced beyond the hook 120 such extent that the keeper may assume by gravity an lnclined binding posltion when the body ls in uprlght position w1th the lever plvot uppermost and with one end of the keeper engaged in the blght of the hook. w

3. A device cf the character descrlbed comprlslng a body in the form 01 an elongated. loop with the s1de elements thereof integrally counected at one end by an eye extending lateralli in the plane of the loop beyond the sides of the loop, a latch lever plvoted on the body between the side elements thereof at the other end oi the loop, sald lever belng provided wlth an outwardly dlrected hook at the free end thereof, and a keeper havlng an aperture receiving the body with a loose sliding fit, the keeper aperture belng of lass wldth than the eye portlon and belng deflned by end walls of sllghtly greater spacing than the depth of the side elements, said. s1de elements being of reduced depth adjacent the eye portlon and the eye portlon being spaced beyond the hook to 'such extent that the keeper may assume by gravity an lnclined binding position when the body is in uprlght posltionwlth the lever pivot uppermost and with one end of the keeper engaged in the bight cf the hook, the outer tace o1 the blght of the hook being substantlally parallel to the face of the keeper when the keeper ls in such binding posltlon.

4. A device of the character descrlbed comprising a body in the form o1 an elongated loop having fiat side elements disposed with their flat faces parallel and lntegrally connectetl at one end by an eye portion of wund cross section extending laterally in the plane of the loop beyond the fiat slde element's, a rlvet connectlng the slde elements at the other end of the loop, a latch lever plvoted between the sicle elements on said rlvet, said lever having an outwardly directed hook at the free end thereof, and a keeper having an aperture recelving the side elements with a free slldlng fit, the keeper aperture being of less width than sald eye portion and being deflned by end walls of greater spaclng than the depth of said side elements, the eye portion belng sbaced beyond the hook to such extent that the keeper may assume by gravity an lnclined binding position when the body is in uprlght position with the lever pivot uppermost and wlth one end of the keeper engaged in the bight of the hook, said slde elements being tapered to a narrower depth adjacent the eye portion so as to permit a sharp inclination of the keeper when in said blndlng positlon.

5. A fastener comprlsing a base member, a lever pivotally mounted on said base member Ior movement into substantial parallelism with said base member, a keeper freely slidable on saicl base member over the free end 01 sald lever and rotatable on said base member about an ax1s parallel to the pivot of sald lever into frictlonal contact wlth sald base member, and means an the lever bearing on said. keeper 120 hold the keeper in rotated position and 120 exert a pressure an said keeper to increase such frictional contact as the lever tends to move to dls engage from the keeper.

6. A fastener comprising a base member, a lever pivotally mounted on said base member for movement into substantlal parallelism with said base member, a keeper freely slidable oh saicl base member over the free end of said lever and rotatable on said base member about an axis parallel to the plvot of said lever into frictional contact with said base member, and means on the lever and keeper exerting a rotative force on said keeperinhe same djrection as the lever tends to move in a direction to dlsengage from said keeper.

7. A fastener comprising a base member, a lever pivotally mounted on said base member for movement into substantial parallelism wlth said base member, a keeper freely slidable on -sald base member over the free end of said lever and rotatable on said base member about an axis parallel so the pivot of said lever into frictional cantact,with said base member, and wedging means on the lever and keeper cooperating when the keeper is in rotated position, to exert a force on said keeper to increase its frictional contact with the base member as the lever tends to move in a direction to disengage from sald keeper.

8. A fastener comprlsing a base member, a lever plvotally mounted on said base member for movement into substantial parallelism with said base member, a keeper freely slidable on said base member over the free end of said lever and rotatable on said. base member into frictional contact with said base member, and means on the lever bearing on said keeper to hold the keeper in rotated position and to exert a pressure on said keeper to increase such frictional contact as the lever tends to move to disengage from the keeper.

9. A fastener comprislng an elongated base member, a lever piv oted near one end thereof for movement into substantial parallelism With said base member, a keeper surrounding said base member and freely slidable thereon into and out of engagement with the end of the lever, opposed biting edges on said keeper facing said base member adapted when said keeper is tilted t engage opposite faces of said base member and cooperating means an said lever and keeper operating as the lever tends to move in a direction to cllsengage from said keeper 110 cause said edges to bite said faces of said base member.

10. A fastener comprising an elongated base member, a lever pivoted near one end thereof for movement into substantial parallelism With said base member, a keeper surrounding said base member and freely slidable thereon into and out of engagement With the end of the lever, opposed biting edges on said keeper facing said base member adapted when said keeper is tilted to engage opposite faces of said base member, and cooperating means on said lever and keeper operating as the lever tends to move in a direction 120 disengage from sald keeper to cause said edges t0 bite the faces of said base member, one of said faces of the base member engaged by a biting edge of said keeper being inclined in a direction to lncrease biting engagernent of said biting edge.

11. A fastener comprising an elongated base member, a lever pivoted near one end thereof for movement into substantlal parallelism with said base member, a keeper surrounding sald base engage opposlte faces of said base member, and

cooperating means on said lever and keeper operatlng as the lever tends to move in a direction to disengage from said keeper to cause said edges to bite said faces of sald base member, one of said faces of said base member being incllned in a direction to provicle for such tilting movement of said keeper.

12. A fastener comprising an elongated base member, a lever pivoted thereto for xribvement into substantial parallelism with said base member, a keeper surrounding sald base member and freely slidable into and out of engagement wlth the end of said lever, biting edges ancl cooperating faces on said keeper and base member adapted when said keeper is tilted to engage, anti cooperating means on sald lever and keeper operating as said lever tends to move in a dlreccion to disengage from said keeper to cause saicl edges to blte said faces.

13. A fastener comprising a base member including parallel side members having provislon at one end for connection with a 1ink and at the other end for pivotally supporting a lever for movement of its free end into'the space between said side members, a lever plvotally supported at said other end of said side members, a keeper slidably mounted on said side members and having an aperture to receive said lever and said sidemembers, the sections of the walls of the aperture opposite the upper and 1ower faces of the side members being spaced a greater distance than the depth of the side members to permit the keeper 130 tilt to engage saicl sections With said faces, and a hook on the end of said lever having the inner surface of its end beyond the bight bearing and pressing on the upper end of said keeper when said keeper is in said tilted position in the bight of said hook and when sald lever tends to move in a direction to disengage from saicl keeper.

14. A fastener comprising a base member including parallel side members having provision at one end f0r connection with a link and at the other end for pivotally supporting a lever for movernent of its f1ee end into the space between said side members a lever pivotally supported ab said other end 0f said side members, a keeper slidably mounted on said side merhbers and having an aperture to receive said lever and said side members, the sections of the Walls of the aperture opposite the upper and lower faces of the side members being spaced a greater distance than the depth of the side members to permit; the keeper to ti1t to engage said sections With said faces, and a hook on ehe end of said lever having the inner surface of its end beyond the bight extending substantially parallel to said keeper when said keeper is in said tilted position.

15. A fastener including an elongated base, a securing lever pivoted on saicl base, a hook 0n the rear face of the free end of said lever inclined toward the pivot of said lever, and a keeper loosely surrounding said base and engaging said hook, said keeper being disengageable from said hook by movement of the keeper toward fihe pivot; of said lever and said keeper being rotatable 011 said hock by gravity into jamming engagement with said base 120 lock the keeper hook by grav1ty 1nto Jamming engagement wlthsald base to lock the keeper against movement to disengage from seid hook, a nd cooperatlng mea.ns on sa.id hook und keeper tending to t urther rotate sa1d keeper upon movement o! sa.ld lever in a dlrectlon to dlsengage the hook trom sald keeper.

17. A Ia.stenet lncludln: an elongated baue, s securlng lever plvoted on sald base. a hook on the rear face o! the tree end o! saldlever lnclined toward the plvot 01'- said lever. und a keeper loosely surroundlng sald base und enga.glng sa1d hook. said keeper being movable toward the plvot 01 sald lever by sa.id hook upon movement o1 sald lever'in a. dlrection to dlsengase the hook 1mm the keeper, am! sald' keeper being rota.table on sald hook 'by gravlty lnto jamm1ng engasement wlth sa.ld base to prevent sa1d lever 1mm movin said keeper in a dlrectlon toward said plvot.

WELIAM E. MYERS. WILLIAM F. BCHWAR'IZ. 

